Etihad Aviation Group has awarded the winners of a special ‘Hackathon’, which it hosted in partnership with Cognit, a joint venture between Mubadala and IBM Watson, as part of the UAE’s nation-wide Innovation Week celebrations last week.

The Hackathon, which took place at Etihad Airways’ Innovation Centre, saw more than 20 computer science and engineering students from leading Abu Dhabi-based universities compete over three days to create innovative travel and aviation applications using IBM Watson’s cognitive technology.  

A team comprising four female students from the Higher Colleges of Technology won for developing an app that gives reminders on when to hydrate, exercise and rest - helping passengers to prevent and recover from jet-lag.

A second team of five students from New York University Abu Dhabi won for developing a door-to-door travel concierge app allowing passengers to get in touch with flight attendants in-flight.

Each member of the winning teams was awarded an Etihad Airways Business Class round-trip ticket to New York to visit IBM Watson’s headquarters at Astor Place, and a New York City sightseeing tour. - TradeArabia News Service